Article:-Dennis Schrantz Helped Michigan Decrease Prison Population, Costs Without Increase in Crime –
Northpointe Institute for Public Management is pleased to announce the addition of Dennis Schrantz as senior policy analyst. With more than 30 years of experience in the criminal justice field, Schrantz is a recognized leader in reducing prison and jail populations while improving public safety.
As the senior policy analyst with Northpointe, Schrantz will be responsible for working with state and local jurisdictions that want to improve their justice policies to improve system and individual performance and reduce corrections costs.
Prior to joining Northpointe, Schrantz served as the deputy director of planning and community development for the Michigan Department of Corrections under the leadership of Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and Corrections Department Director Patricia L. Caruso. In his seven years with the agency, Schrantz oversaw the development and implementation of initiatives that resulted in a decline in the prison population by 12 percent, the closing of 19 prisons, and a cost savings to the State of over $118 million in one year alone – without any related increase in crime. Michigan’s accomplishments in putting evidence-based practices to work were recently highlighted in a national publication from the Washington, D.C., based think-tank, The Sentencing Project, “Downscaling Prisons; Lessons from Four States.”
“Dennis is an excellent addition to the Northpointe team,” said Dave Wells, Northpointe president and CEO. “His wealth of experience in building sustainable, evidence-based justice system improvements will help Northpointe work with jurisdictions to lower costs and improve outcomes. The work that Dennis did in Michigan to design and build the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative set the national standard for improved performance. His skills are a great fit for Northpointe’s consultancy services.”
Prior to working for the Michigan Department of Corrections, Schrantz was the director of adult services at Wayne County Department of Community Justice in Detroit. Before this, he was the executive director of the Michigan Office of Community Corrections. In his time with this office, Schrantz directed much of his energies to working with the Michigan Community Corrections Act. As a result of his team’s efforts, prison admission rates dropped from 32 to 22 percent in the early 1990s and have remained low.
“I look forward to building on Northpointe’s excellent reputation of helping states and urban centers improve public safety and focus more heavily on improved justice policies that will enhance performance and increase efficiency,” Schrantz said.